Magistrates have issued forty-nine pre-trial supervision orders against Alitalia-CAI workers involved in inquiries into passenger baggage thefts. Nineteen baggage handlers are under house arrest while a further thirty have been ordered to sign the judicial police register.

HOUSE ARREST – Alitalia-CAI is understood to have collaborated with police. The supervision orders were issued to prevent any repetition of the offences – aggravated attempted theft and actual theft, as well as criminal damage – alleged to have been committed against unwitting customers of Italy’s flagship airline. Those responsible could face up to six years’ imprisonment and lose their jobs. The operation, coordinated by the Lamezia Terme prosecution service and led by Antonio del Greco, director of the border police fifth zone, involved a large number of officers, who executed the supervision orders issued by magistrates. Investigators worked in harness with border police officers based at Lamezia Terme. In addition to those arrested in Rome, a further thirty-seven employees of various baggage handling companies used by Alitalia were handed over to the authorities at other airports in Italy – Lamezia Terme, Bari, Bologna, Milan Linate, Naples, Palermo, Rome Fiumicino and Verona.

COLLABORATION – Border police sources stress that a crucial contribution to the operation’s success came from “Alitalia-CAI security management, which actively collaborated with investigators and provided constant support to judicial police officers during the most delicate stages of inquiries”.